Although many years have elapsed since the demise of Biafra, it still remains an intractable unfinished business that seriously threatens the corporate existence of Nigeria. Most of the literature on Biafra tended to dwell more on the historical and political analysis of the war and how the factors that engendered it could be tackled. It appears however, that no ethical analysis of the issues involved in the Biafran war has been carried out in any significant academic endeavour, hence the reason and need for a critical analytical survey of the ethical and political implications of the role of the world community in the unprecedented events that took place in Biafra. The purpose of this book is, first, to understand the twist and turns of the events and issues involved in the Biafran crisis and the role the international community played in the war. Second is to articulate the complex nature of humanitarian intervention and to stress the relevance of ethics, its interpenetration, and tandem relationship with international relations on a broader level, and in particular, humanitarian intervention as a foreign policy action. The main claim of our argument is that ethics is part and parcel of international relations. Divorcing ethics from international relations leads to amorality that threatens the world order. In other words, it is argued that ethical considerations should guide international affairs and the undertaking of humanitarian intervention. Behind this basic thesis, the book defends the idea of a global ethic. Global ethic means an ethic which acknowledges respect for human life and the interconnectedness and interdependence of all human beings. It is an ethic which transcends the circumscribed confines of national boundaries and economic and geopolitical interests and opens them up to the larger urgent need, well-being, peaceful coexistence, and sustainability of the larger world community. Tobe Nnamani

Nigeria stands to become the most populous country in Africa, accounting for perhaps one-fifth of the continent's entire population. With its diverse cultures and abundant natural wealth, it has attracted attention on the international level. Since gaining its independence from Britain in1960 and the advent of civil war from 1967 to 1970, Nigeria has been in an upheaval of political and economic change. The military rule of the country for more than three decades has further contributed to the breakdown of its first and second republics. This book takes a close look at an aspect of Nigeria's development that has to date received inadequate attention-- the role that humanitarian organizations played during the civil war. Using foreign policy, historical analysis, and the traditional law concept in defining intervention, this book will broaden the overall scope of critically analyzing the effect that non-governmental agents in a society have on foreign relations. By focusing on the role of the humanitarian organization as a societal determinant of foreign policy in the Nigerian Civil War, which demonstrates that local humanitarian actions dovetail into international foreign policy choices that are overly political, this book fills an up-until-now serious gap in the literature of Nigeria's development.

Published in 1991, The Self-determination of Minorities in International Politics is a valuable contribution to the field of Politics.